Project 453372

The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body. It receives all of the blood from the heart, each and every heartbeat. The wall of the aorta is designed to withstand this profound and repetitive force. However, over time the aorta can weaken, and in some individuals, this can happen at a young age. A weakened aorta will enlarge, and form a balloon-like expansion that is called an aneurysm. Aneurysms are very risky because they can rupture or tear, which is termed a "dissection". In this project, we propose to investigate the behaviour of the muscle cells that make up the aortic wall. These cells can function in many different ways, and we will identify these various behaviours using sophisticated microscopic and genetic techniques. We will study this in expanded, aneurysmal aortas that have been surgically removed from patients (and replaced with an artificial aorta). We will also study the process whereby some of the muscle cells prematurely age and cause the rest of the aorta to become weak. We will investigate compounds that can remove malfunctioning cells and determine if they can prevent aortic dissection in experimental systems.